Hong Myung-bo, the head coach of the national soccer team, put it forward as his “qualification as a coach” was a rich experience that encompassed the field and administration.
Coach Hong Myung-bo persuaded soccer fans that he was the right person to lead Korean soccer at a press conference for the inauguration of the national soccer team head coach at the soccer center in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 29th.
“I coached national teams by age group and experienced administration as executive director of the Korea Football Association. Afterwards, I returned to the field and experienced the importance of the K-League,” Hong said, displaying his career path over the past years.
Starting with the head coach of the “Advocat” in 2005, Hong took the helm of the U-20 national team in 2009, and in 2012, he gave South Korea a bronze medal at the London Olympics, where he led the U-23 national team.
In 2014, he participated in the Brazil World Cup as the head coach of the A team, but suffered a bitter taste with one draw and two losses.
In addition to his experience as a coach of the national team by age and experience of failure, he stressed that his time as executive director of the Korea Football Association from 2017 to 2020 and his three-and-a-half-year visit to the K-League as the head coach of K-League 1 Ulsan HD became assets and that he was ready to lead the development of Korean soccer, including the establishment of a youth system and finding prospects.
He said he is also interested in linking the national teams by age, which is the core of Korea’s soccer technology philosophy, and that the national team coach is his “appointment.”
“I was heartbroken by the series of situations that took place at the 2022 Qatar World Cup and 2023 Qatar Asian Cup after leaving the association’s executive director position,” coach Hong said. “I thought someone should play a role. Of course, I could have been a better person even if it wasn’t me, but I thought it was my last job.”
Using his failure at the Brazil World Cup 10 years ago, Hong declared that he would look to the round of 16 or higher at the 2026 North Korea-China World Cup.
“I failed 10 years ago. All of them are correct,” Hong said, emphasizing that the 2024 Hong Myung-bo has changed.
“At that time, we were told that it was a personal soccer that only players we knew were selected. Back then, we only selected players who had hat tricks or scored goals in the K-League. We didn’t know of any players who could commit themselves to the team even though they were not worthy of their name,” Hong said after admitting his mistake. “As a result, we repeatedly couldn’t use them for games when they were not in good condition.”
Ten years later, Hong stressed that he is well-versed in the K-League.
“I have lived in the K-League for three and a half years. I have been identifying key players of each team, or players who can replace them, if not the key players,” Hong said. “The big difference is that I have a list of players to dedicate themselves to the team or players who will change the course of the game.”
As he has grown to the next level as a coach, his eye for selecting players has improved.
“If we have good performance, we will make the selection more flexible. We will build a national team that grows together with the K-League,” Hong said, expressing the possibility that more players who have shown potential in the K-League will join the national team than before.
He is also planning to throw off his “charisma,” which he used to represent.
“I’m not a charismatic leader by nature. Of course, charisma is one of my characteristics, but it doesn’t speak for all of me,” he said. “I don’t like that type of team management.”
Coach Hong, who said he would present “respect, dialogue, responsibility, and dedication” as keywords to lead the team and make the atmosphere within the team horizontal, plans to be reborn as a “communication king.”
Referring to the interviews with European players, Hong said, “I heard about what the players want from the coach and the national team,” adding, “I will apply the part that formed a consensus when the national team was called up in September.” 스포츠토토
Coach Hong, who has three sails: experience in the national team coaching staff, administrative experience as executive director of the Korea Football Association, and K-League field knowledge accumulated while serving as Ulsan coach, added “the power of communication.”
He officially declared the departure of the ‘Hong Myung-bo’ with the goal of reaching the round of 16 or higher at the World Cup and the heavy responsibility of developing Korean soccer.